The present invention relates to a portable electroplating wand. More specifically, it refers to a hand-held, battery operated electroplating wand that has an anode located within a container for protection during non-use and for obtaining a source of plating solution during use.
It is known to use a wand including an anode to electroplate metallic materials. In such devices known to Applicant, an electrical conductor is used to connect the electrical circuitry of the wand to a source of electrical power. This source of electrical power can be a separate storage battery such as, for example, a car battery or a source of AC power provided via a transformer. Applicant is unaware of any plating device that is completely portable and self-contained, requiring no outside connection to a power source or separate plating solution bath.
The prior art known to Applicant describes electroplating devices such as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,605 where the portable device cannot be hand held, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,525,681; 3,746,627; 3,755,089; 4,176,036; 4,431,501 and 5,401,369 where an outside source of power is required for a portable electroplating device.
A portable hand-held electroplating device is needed with a self-contained power source and plating solution so that one can easily and inexpensively plate areas where previous plating has rubbed off or chipped off. This is particularly a problem for gold touch-up plating where the soft nature of gold and rubbing causes wear over metal-coated gold surfaces. A portable hand-held electroplating device that can be easily stored for later use would serve the purpose of touch-up plating.
The present invention solves this problem and differs from the teachings of the prior art references as contemplating an electroplating wand that is completely self-powered and hand-held, requiring no outside connection to a power source and, further, as including a cap from a plating solution container clamped to the anode.